While the Arkansas baseball team came out of its Fall World Series — which was held Monday and Tuesday — with no new injuries, head coach Dave Van Horn and the Diamond Hogs do have some positive news with a couple key players who suffered injuries in the 2023 season.
Junior infielder Peyton Stovall, the No. 1 overall prospect from Louisiana in the 2021 class, suffered a torn labrum last season and Van Horn announced May 17 that Stovall's year would be done.
Stovall posted via Twitter on June 8 that he had a successful surgery and Van Horn shared Tuesday that his star infielder is on track for the spring.
"Oh yeah, he’s ahead of schedule," Van Horn said after Tuesday's Game 2 of the Fall World Series. "He’s swinging the bat. Says he feels no pain. It’s like nothing ever happened. Throwing, the throwing motion looks great. He hasn’t felt tightness in there like a lot of times they do when they have that surgery.
"I think he’ll be ready to go. He’s taken a lot of ground balls and fielding the ball outstanding. So we’ll see how it turns out."
Van Horn said Stovall should be throwing pretty much all of January and he's been told there will be no restrictions for the native of Haughton, Louisiana.
"He should be hitting," Van Horn said. "He might be able to get some live at-bats here before he goes home for the holidays. He’ll be swinging a real bat, not just hitting off the tee. Off the tee, soft toss, some short toss, and we’ll go from there."
Another player who is expected to contribute a lot is right-handed pitcher Koty Frank, a former transfer from Nebraska. Frank is entering his sixth year of college baseball in 2024. A torn lat suffered on March 5 against Wright State ended his 2023 season.
"He’s doing real well," Van Horn said. "You know, you bring that up, I mean there are a couple guys that haven’t, you know there’s a guy that hasn’t pitched, and he’s going to pitch for us. He’s another piece to the puzzle.
"He’s bigger and stronger than he’s ever been, and he’s playing catch now. He’s ahead of schedule as well. I’m not sure exactly the way it reads, but he’s going to be up on a mound here in not too long."
One player who hasn't been seen in a Razorback uniform yet, but could contribute, is Eastern Illinois transfer Lincoln Riley. The Marion, Iowa, native slashed .307/.423/.424 with an OPS of .847 in 2023.
Riley accumulated 71 hits, 11 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 38 RBIs in 289 plate appearances. Riley struck out in 36 at-bats and walked 27 times. The 5-foot-10 outfielder also stole 18 bases.
A shoulder injury suffered late in the 2023 season with Eastern Illinois has kept Riley, a fifth-year player, out of the entire fall season for Arkansas.
"So Lincoln, you know the shoulder, we’re still trying to figure it out with him," Van Horn said. "I think it’s going to be something that, I don’t even think he can swing the bat for a little bit longer. I think he’s either going to have to come back on fire after Christmas ready to go, or there’s going to be a potential to redshirt.
"So we’ll see on that, and I don’t even know if he wants to redshirt. I don't know if he’s going to say oh this is my fifth year and I’ve had enough of this. We have to talk to him about it. These are the things that will go on from now until the holidays. There will be a lot of discussions."
Up next for Arkansas will be a team meeting Thursday and then skill work starts next week with the squad going from two lift days per week to four.
"A lot of hitting in groups starting inside, just working on things, working on bunting, working on base running," Van Horn said. "And then a lot of defense with the infielders. Outfielders will be out here a little bit. That’s what we do from now until Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, we get them for another week max and then they’re out of here for a long time."
